Midnight in Siberia
A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia
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Narrated by:
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David Greene
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By:
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David Greene
About this listen
After two and a half years as NPR’s Moscow bureau chief, David Greene travels across the country - a 6,000 mile journey by rail, from Moscow to the Pacific port of Vladivostok - to speak with ordinary Russians about how their lives have changed in the post-Soviet years. Reaching beyond the headline-grabbing protests in Moscow, Green speaks with a group of singing babushkas from Buranovo, a teenager hawking “space rocks” from last spring’s meteor shower in Chelyabinsk, and activists battling for environmental regulation in the pollution-choked town of Baikalsk. Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia: a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality.
Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene’s lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of 20th century Russia: how its people remember their history and look forward to the future.
©2014 David Greene. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company. (P)2014 HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books.Listeners also enjoyed...
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By: Masih Alinejad
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Where the West Ends
- Stories from the Middle East, the Balkans, the Black Sea, and the Caucasus
- By: Michael J. Totten
- Narrated by: Steven Roy Grimsley
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Prize-winning author Michael J. Totten returns with a masterpiece of travel writing and history in this journey through 13 nations - all but two formerly communist - just beyond the edge of the West where few casual travelers venture. His work as an independent foreign correspondent takes him deep into the field beyond the sensational headlines, from his hilariously miserable road trip with his best friend to Iraq to the Wild West of Albania, the most bizarre country in Europe; from the killing fields in Bosnia and Kosovo to a Romania haunted by the ghosts of its communist past.
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Not a right wing fanatic
- By Love on 12-11-13
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The Home That Was Our Country
- By: Alia Malek
- Narrated by: Alia Malek
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parents' decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians—the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds—who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country
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Syria as never read before
- By rami hachwi on 09-17-18
By: Alia Malek
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See You Again in Pyongyang
- By: Travis Jeppesen
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From terrifying missile tests, its unmissable Olympic cheering squad, and the war of words between President Trump and Kim Jong Un - not to mention stranger-than-fiction stories of purges and assassinations - news from North Korea has dominated global headlines. But what is life there actually like? In See You Again in Pyongyang, Travis Jeppesen, the first American to complete a university program in North Korea, culls from his experiences living, traveling, and studying in the country to create a multifaceted portrait of the country and its idiosyncratic capital city.
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Save me from the hippie millennials with a PhD
- By Verified purchaser on 06-21-18
By: Travis Jeppesen
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The Lightless Sky
- A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World
- By: Gulwali Passarlay
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen, Susan Duerden
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban, who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans, who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali's mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the 12-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains of Eastern Afghanistan through Iran and Europe to Britain. Over the course of 12 harrowing months, Gulwali endured imprisonment, hunger, cruelty, brutality, loneliness, and terror - and nearly drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
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A Face for Refugees
- By Daryl on 12-10-16
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Dancing Bears
- By: Witold Szabłowski, Antonia Lloyd-Jones - translator, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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For hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to dance, welcoming them into their families and taking them on the road to perform. In the early 2000s, with the fall of Communism, they were forced to release the bears into a wildlife refuge. But even today, whenever the bears see a human, they still get up on their hind legs to dance. In the tradition of Ryszard Kapuściński, award-winning Polish journalist, Witold Szabłowski uncovers remarkable stories of people throughout Eastern Europe and in Cuba who, like Bulgaria’s dancing bears, are now free but who seem nostalgic for the time when they were not.
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Intelligent, entertaining, & insightful
- By Kait on 07-23-19
By: Witold Szabłowski, and others
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Dreams from My Father
- A Story of Race and Inheritance
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a Black African father and a White American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family.
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Powerful
- By Gene R. on 10-26-21
By: Barack Obama
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Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
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funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
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On Wings of Eagles
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Marcia Hyde, Larry Robinson, Ralph Williams, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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When two of his American employees were held hostage in a heavily guarded prison fortress in Iran, one man took matters into his own hands: American businessman H. Ross Perot. His team consisted of a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of his corporation, hand-picked and trained by a retired Green Beret officer. To free the imprisoned Americans, they would face incalculable odds on a mission that only true heroes would have dared.
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Was the narrator in a hurry?
- By Tammy on 06-19-08
By: Ken Follett
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Because Our Fathers Lied
- A Memoir of Truth and Family, from Vietnam to Today
- By: Craig McNamara
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright, Craig McNamara
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Craig McNamara came of age in the political tumult and upheaval of the late '60s. While Craig McNamara would grow up to take part in anti-war demonstrations, his father, Robert McNamara, served as John F. Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense and the architect of the Vietnam War. This searching and revealing memoir offers an intimate picture of one father and son at pivotal periods in American history. Because Our Fathers Lied is more than a family story—it is a story about America.
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Title Does Not Reflect Scope of the Book
- By Amazon Customer on 07-15-22
By: Craig McNamara
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Prisoner
- My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out
- By: Jason Rezaian
- Narrated by: Jason Rezaian
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic memoir of the journalist who was held hostage in a high-security prison in Tehran for 18 months and whose release - which almost didn’t happen - became a part of the Iran nuclear deal.
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Should have been much better given subject matter
- By Sample Sloth on 04-17-19
By: Jason Rezaian
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Dancing with the Enemy
- My Family's Holocaust Secret
- By: Paul Glaser
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster, Christa Lewis
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The gripping story of the author's aunt, a Jewish dance instructor who was betrayed to the Nazis by the two men she loved, yet managed to survive WWII by teaching dance lessons to the SS at Auschwitz. Her epic life becomes a window into the author's own past and the key to discovering his Jewish roots.
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Amazing Unique
- By Nordic Artisan on 05-11-19
By: Paul Glaser
What listeners say about Midnight in Siberia
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amber Vaughn Robinson
- 10-23-14
The intensity of encountering modern Russia
If you could sum up Midnight in Siberia in three words, what would they be?
Insightful, moving, relevant
Who was your favorite character and why?
You meet so many marvelous Russian individuals, but the favorite character who emerges is modern Russia, herself.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
In 2007 I spent 3 months in Russia as an American with little prior understanding of the country, and this book vividly brought back many feelings from that time. I was so grateful to recognize what I had seen and felt while there in a fellow traveler's experience. I recognized the culture-shock, and realization that there is this vast nation on the other side of the world about which most of us know very little, and that these people have a history and point of view that is unique and completely fascinating. It was very moving.
Any additional comments?
David Greene captures so many elements of the culture, from confusing idiosyncrasies of day-to-day Russian life, to a deeper, insidious mindset that holds fast to a nation of people beaten down by decades (or centuries, really) of political repression. By travelling via third class railway tickets across the country, Greene offers a unique perspective that cannot be found by studying Russian history or following the news. You learn about the state of humanity in this nation. While watching the development of post-soviet Russia from afar, it can be completely perplexing for a westerner to grasp such things as Putin's high approval rating, or a wave of seemingly anti-democratic, anti-western sentiment from the country. This book helps make sense of a nation of people who have been closed to America for so much of the 20th century, and it's incredibly relevant for any American who wants to better understand who those people are.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Dawn A.
- 08-21-15
Like "All Things Considered", only much longer!
Good insights into the Russian fatalistic state of Mind. I am third generation American, with a western Ukrainian Jewish background but I can see the traces of those fatalistic sensibilities in my families genes.
Although the editor did not catch a few grammatical or geographical errors, Such as The Pyong Yang restaurant in Vladivovstok being a propaganda tool of South Korea. In spite of a few other verbal faux pas David Greene has a wonderful voice and is an accomplished writer. He succeeded with his democratic look at an people favoring an autocracy, the type of government it has been their lot historically. As my beloved Ukrainian Grandmother would say "if a worm has only known horseradish. How can it dream of an
His end note about the people simply craving a group to identify with, was a great insight. This feeling resonates after my own experiences with Russians, either as expats or in my travels in Russia or other parts of the world.
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- Patricia Anderson
- 10-11-16
Russia.s people from west to east
You might like reading/hearing this really fascinating book. Trains' taxis and hovercraft. With a young correspondant, David Green. He went to HS in Lancaster.
Love, Pat
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- Belinda Thompson
- 01-21-24
Overview of Russian People and their lives
I like the way the author describes how the people feel about Russia and how their culture influences their lives. The descriptions of the landscape and the train rides are interesting and moving. Good job.
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- Andy
- 11-26-14
deilghtful and informative
I didn't realize when I selected this book that the narrator is the guy I listen to almost every morning on NPR. David Green tells a great story here. It's a little weird listening to him in long-form, versus short form NPR. Nonetheless, his stories of his travels through Russia are fascinating.
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1 person found this helpful
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- S Drapeau
- 02-09-22
amazing look into life
I neve, never, Never write reviews. this book was so eye opening. I always wondered why Russia didn't seem to want to be democratic. this truly puts things into perspective. loved this book!!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Donald Bullard
- 07-12-17
It made me drink.
Would you listen to Midnight in Siberia again? Why?
Yes, David bought some real feel to Russia. I would like revisit his take on things, particularly where he went to. I was compelling.
What other book might you compare Midnight in Siberia to and why?
Odd, but I was thinking of Mark Twain, and a smidgeon of Woody Allen, but I could not think of any real titles, just some of the topicality.
Which scene was your favorite?
Drinking by the mothers grave in the Ukraine.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
Mayo, horse sausage, and vodka. Also metal detectors that go off as you walk through them, but you keep on going .
Any additional comments?
None at the moment
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- R. Lankaranian
- 05-17-15
Informative and repetitive!
This book provides the reader with a guttural understanding of Russians and the Russian culture. However, it tries hard not to state an opinion, and tries even harder not to offend Russians. It is hardly critical of anything in modern Russia and explains away any short-comings. The book is also very repetitive and one third of it could have easily been edited away.
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- Mary Dugan
- 04-04-24
David Greene's story telling
Greene gives great insight into Russian citizens and how their past influences their present day lives.
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- JK
- 09-14-24
EXCELLENT
This book is truly excellent from start to finish.
I find it very interesting to read about RUSIA and its people. So much history.
I highly recommend listening.
The author, as the narrator is a pleasure to listen to.
My thanks to all involved, JK
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